Is Blogging the New Journaling?

Some of us are old enough to remember when journaling was all the rage in school. You had to write everyday and (if you had my teacher) if you didn't have anything to say you just wrote I don't have anything to write over and over again for the entire writing time (it was probably ten minutes but it felt like hours).

Fast forward to today when I am reading the Yang article on blogging and I thought Ah ha, this is what they were trying to do. They were trying to give the quiet kid who never raised their hand a voice. They were giving the kid who needs a little time to think a moment to collect their thoughts and put them on paper. This was a good practice.

Blogging is an updated form journaling but technology makes it even better for students. Here are some of the benefits of blogging as outlined in the article (I added a couple of my own).

Bitmoji Image

They can serve as portfolios that show student learning over time.
They are easily shareable. (Raise your hand if you have ever stood in front of the class with your knees knocking to share something you wrote.)
It encourages collaboration amongst peers.
It makes learning students centered.
It encourages students to write, even if it is in an informal setting.
It gives all students a voice.
It allows the teacher to get to know the student.

All in all blogging seems to have a lot of benefits in the classroom. I know that I will be incorporating blogging into my regular classroom activities this upcoming fall. Can anyone think of any other benefits? Are you going to use blogging in the classroom? If so what is your plan?

Comments

Three Is More Than One

Umm, excuse me Governor Desantis but last year you said that you had a issue with standardized testing. I was like okay, this is a cause that I can get behind. The way we are currently using standardized test in the education system is abhorrent. In many cases these tests are the only measure of student and teacher success. Standardized tests don't allow us to celebrate the small wins. If a student read 2 books last year and 15 books this year, that's a win. If you learned to write your name in cursive, that's a win. If you know how to divide or understand fractions that's a win. I don't care what the test says. When did kids become standardized. My oldest daughter could read before she went to kindergarten. Her sister learned to read in kindergarten. My son could read when he was four. They all turned out just fine. Kids are not standardized. I was excited to hear that we were doing away with the FSA. As an educator, I felt like someone was finally paying attent...

Thing That Make You Go HMMM!!

Okay so I admit I lost it this week! If you read my previous blog, you know what I'm talking about, if you didn't you should check it out (warning there is cursing and stupidity involved). It's a good read. Really Okay so I have been watching the news to see what other counties are going to do. Mostly I have been watching to see what OCPS is going to do. I want to see if I am going to have to run screaming from the building because I have gone completely mad. But anyway, no word on OCPS but I really like what two counties have decided to do. The premise of this whole idea of parental rights in school involves parents wanting to control what their student learns. If I am being honest, that doesn't really bother me. I think parents should be involved. My issue is when the will of the few gets imposed on the many. That isn't fair. Two counties in Florida have found a creative way to stop this from happening. Polk county has six books that have been challenged. Paren...

What the H*** is Happening

Please excuse my thinly veiled attempt to cover my cursing. I realize that I should use my words better, but to be honest in this case the word is the most appropriate one I could think of this morning. This morning I woke up to this article. https://bookriot.com/florida-teachers-remove-classroom-libraries/ The article discusses how teachers in Brevard Public Schools have been told that they cannot use their classroom libraries this year until they have been vetted by an expert. I thought teachers were the experts! I mean we did go to school for just such an occasion, but I digress. Let's get back to the real issue. I would be remiss if I just read one article, so I went a googling. Here are the other headlines that popped up. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/05/12/florida-schools-stirred-up-over-library-books-textbooks/ https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/15/brevard-schools-discuss-district-wide-library-book-policy-prepare-for-review-pro...

Tired Teacher

Search This Blog